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First Principles

The best place to start is here with our First Principles course. It focuses on  the most fundamental principles for studying and teaching the Bible.
$19
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Instructors

Helm

DAVID R. HELM

Lead Pastor, Christ Church (Chicago)

David serves as the lead pastor of Christ Church in Chicago and Chairman of the Board of the Charles Simeon Trust, an organization dedicated to the sound preaching of God’s Word. Before that, he served as Lead Pastor in the Hyde Park congregation of Holy Trinity Church. A graduate of Wheaton College, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, David is ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and serves on the council of The Gospel Coalition. For Crossway, he authored 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, The Big Picture Story Bible, and contributed to Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching in Honor of Kent Hughes. He also authored One-to-One Bible Reading for Matthias Media and the 9Marks volume Expositional Preaching.

Overview

The best place to start is here with our First Principles course. It focuses on  the most fundamental principles for ...More
The best place to start is here with our First Principles course. It focuses on  the most fundamental principles for studying and teaching the Bible.
Download Syllabus
Lesson 1

Staying on the Line

David R. HelmIn this first lesson of First Principles, David Helm (Lead Pastor of the Hyde Park congregation of Holy Trinity Church in Chicago, Illinois) tackles the sufficiency of the Scriptures and what happens when we add or subtract from them.
Lesson 2

Pathway for Preparation

David R. HelmIn this lesson of First Principles, David Helm shares an overview of how an expositor might begin to approach the Word of God, a pathway for working through a text.
Lesson 3

Free Lesson: Context

David R. HelmIn this lesson of First Principles, David Helm explores some the pressures that preachers face, and how understanding both the literary and historical context of your text can help.
Lesson 4

Structure

David R. HelmIn this lesson of First Principles, David Helm works through strategies for uncovering the structure of a particular text of Scripture, so that the emphasis of the text might be discovered.
Lesson 5

Melodic Line

David R. HelmIn this lesson of First Principles, David Helm suggests that one key to understanding a text is understanding the big idea of the whole book and how it relates to a particular text.
Lesson 6

Text and Framework

David R. HelmIn this lesson of First Principles, David Helm argues that we need to be aware of what theological and cultural frameworks we bring the study of the Scriptures, and then also have the discipline submit them to the text.
Lesson 7

Seeing Jesus

David R. HelmIn this lesson of First Principles, David Helm makes the case that the Scriptures revolve around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and, given that, that exposition should always relate the text to the gospel.
Lesson 8

Bible for Life

David R. HelmIn this final lesson of First Principles, David Helm asks the question of how we move from exegesis and theological reflection to teaching and applying our text today.
Lesson 9

Course Summary

David R. HelmHere you'll find course documents and other helps for the course that are all available for download.
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